United Kingdom Elgar: Kitty Whately (mezzo-soprano), Benjamin Hulett (tenor), James Platt (bass), Hertfordshire Chorus, London Orchestra da Camera / David Temple (conductor, chorus music director). St Albans Cathedral, Hertfordshire, 31.5.2025. (JR)
Elgar – The Dream of Gerontius
I have musical friends who will travel across continents to hear Gurrelieder; one of the works where I will seriously consider a degree of travel is for a performance of probable high quality of The Dream of Gerontius. The beautiful city of St Albans, with its rich medieval history, is always worth a visit and is only a stone’s throw from London: and its ancient cathedral is in the heart of the city.
Where to begin with this performance? Let us start with the soloists. Ben Hulett was a magnificent Gerontius, strong and forthright of voice right to the end, plenty of heft on his thrilling outbursts of ‘Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus’ and his first ‘Take me away!’; diction and intonation exemplary. My only hesitation is that he seemed somewhat disengaged with the part itself, whether as a dying old man (where a more covered, frailer tone might be appropriate) or more trepidation as the Soul of Gerontius in fear of meeting his Maker. He hardly glanced at the Angel and, as I said, I would have liked more of a range of vocal colour.
James Platt is a seasoned Priest and Angel of the Agony, it helps he looks the part. He was sonorous, resonant and imposing throughout. Just a shame he does not get to sing more in this work.
Kitty Whateley was an impressive Angel, with a lovely velvety tone and spot-on ‘Alleluias’. Her rendition of ‘Softly and gently’ was most moving. A tiny quibble: a smidgeon of extra volume at times would not have gone amiss.
The singing of the Hertfordshire Chorus (bolstered with a just a few strong voices from David Temple’s other chorus, the Crouch End Festival Chorus) was superlative throughout, across all sections: the sopranos were clear and secure with their top notes, altos always warm and audible, tenors strong, basses providing a solid fundament. They displayed the whole range of dynamics, from the tenderest ‘Be merciful, be gracious’, to the exhilarating ‘Praise to the Holiest’: the men were suitably nasty as the demons spewing out the consonants in the con fuoco section, and the ladies sweet of tone and rhythmic as the Angelicals.
The Orchestra da Camera impressed, though I would have liked two more desks of violins, especially for the opening of the Prelude. The brass section was particularly noteworthy. A word of praise too for the organist for the evening, Rufus Frowde, oddly not mentioned in the programme. He is the current accompanist for the chorus. The Cathedral’s fine organ, built in 1962, with its 4,500 pipes, including some pipes from earlier instruments, added greatly to the louder sections of the work.
A performance of many works in a cathedral has its challenges, its ups and downs. On the plus side, if you are going to meet your Maker, what more appropriate and beautiful a place? The orchestral outbursts – such as when Gerontius does finally meet God for an instant – were mind-blowing. The choral sound often reverberated round the huge space, sometimes taking a few extra seconds to reach the audience. I would still rather hear a Gerontius in a cathedral than in a sterile concert hall.
Finally, David Temple, the conductor, whom the BBC described as an Elgar enthusiast. Here I must come clean and make a frank disclosure in the interests of transparency – I sing with David Temple’s other chorus, in London, the Crouch End Festival Chorus, which he co-founded 40 years ago. I don’t think I am displaying bias by saying that Temple’s conducting was nigh perfect, whether conducting the orchestra or guiding the choir through the many tricky sections of the work. I was happy Temple chose not to have an interval (as I have experienced to my utter dismay in other performances) and just have a pause.
Seen and Heard does not award stars to performances but if we did, I would happily give this very fine performance five stars.
John Rhodes
PS: If you cannot get enough of Elgar, allow me some shameless plugs: the Hertfordshire Chorus and the Crouch End Festival Chorus will perform The Kingdom at the Royal Festival Hall on 29th January 2026. This follows on from their recent recording of this work which has garnered a slew of five-star reviews and is one of the ‘Records of the Month’ in the current June issue of Gramophone.
And if you want to support The Hertfordshire Chorus record Hubert Parry’s De Profundis, please do visit their crowdfunder site here.